This week I had planned to start watching Invincible, the animated series based on the comic of the same name, which looks pretty good and many people have spoken very well of it, but again I started watching The Office, I'm watching the 6th season, but I promise that after I finish watching all the remaining seasons I will let the series rest at least for several months (it's my favorite comedy series). Talking about videogames, one of those many drafts I had done was about the game I will talk about today, a pretty fun, entertaining and visually outstanding Run and Gun, a game with many cool aspects, but not something that should surprise since it was developed by Treasure, the same company that created Gunstar Heroes, Alien Soldier, Guardian Heroes, among many others (which I have already made their respective review).
That's why today's Retro Review is about: Silhouette Mirage.
I will be very honest, I totally omitted the "Story" section because at the beginning I didn't pay attention to it and then when I wanted to see what it was about I didn't understand it well and I also got lazy, there were many things that prevented me from paying attention to the plot of this game, I focused especially on its gameplay, graphic aspects and the sound section. Anyway, I continue with the graphic aspect.
Silhouette Mirage stands out with its graphics with many bright colors and scenario design in a 2D environment, but with some 3D elements, so that Treasure managed to create a harmonious union of these two elements. There are many colors in this game and it is because this game is based on an anime style, in fact, presents an Opening in the purest anime style of the 90s. The design of the characters are quite original, most of them present small designs, which could be considered as "chibis", they are not completely chibis designs, but they do present certain elements. The final bosses are a visual spectacle, they are bigger and with extravagant and weird designs, although there will also be simple designs, Treasure knew how to explore this "simplicity" and manage to make this type of designs shine.
The sound is also great, another aspect of this game that was 100% assured since Treasure was in charge of developing it. Optimal music for a game of this style, which we will be in constant frenetic action from start to finish. The soundtrack has 31 melodies composed to sound at the perfect time and situation in the story. Music mostly with fast rhythms that complement very well with the action that transmits this game. The sound effects are also very good, a necessary complement in the sound section, also the voices that can make certain characters, are small details that make them have even more personality.
Silhouette Mirage is a fairly frantic Run and Gun, with a fairly simple gameplay, effective but also addictive, it is a very entertaining game, which moves away a little from the games of its genre, to implement a very interesting mechanics. Despite having the typical elements of the Run and Gun genre games, such as: going through a side scroll scenario and defeating all those enemies that appear on the screen, overcoming obstacles and completing platforming sections, it has a very entertaining mechanic.
Our main character will not simply go through scenarios and go shooting enemies like other games of the same genre, in Silhouette Mirage they implemented a very original mechanic, which consists in the use of colors: blue and red. The mechanics of Silhouette Mirage is like this: our character has two bars, the typical health bar and an energy bar, these energy bars will go down depending on what we do, and we must attack our enemies, depending on the color we have. Our main character was divided into two colors, as I mentioned before, therefore, if we attack an enemy that has our same color, for example, blue, that enemy will be subtracted very little life, but if we attack him while we have the opposite color, for example, red, we will take away a lot of life. So throughout the game we must be sure to use very well the "color states" that our main character has.
But in addition, this also influences the damage that we can receive, that is to say, if an enemy that has our same color attacks us, it will take away part of the energy bar, but if an enemy with a different color than our character attacks us, it will be the life bar which will be affected. Therefore, Silhouette Mirage adds a level of difficulty and variety in its gameplay and mechanics, moving away from the more classic Run and Gun.The scenarios are very varied, with many elements on screen and details in every place we go. There are many visual effects such as explosions, gunshots and lights that fit very well with the type of game it is and also with the magical universe in which the events of this game unfold. Without a doubt Treasure knows how to make visually spectacular video games.
Silhouette Mirage is undoubtedly a jewel, a visually excellent game with original and addictive mechanics, with lots of action and moments of pure freneticism, which I recommend 100%.
